We’ve all heard at some point that good hand washing practices are needed for protection against diseases and to live a healthy life. However, hand washing is still not seen as a priority by many. In fact, most people would not bat an eyelid at someone who doesn't wash their hands as often as possible. To a lot of people, it doesn't really matter.
Forming the habit of washing our hands regularly is one of the most effective ways to protect one's self from contacting and spreading infectious diseases. However, parents and teachers are expected to make efforts to teach children the benefits of washing their hands to prevent the spread of germs and bacteria. This is important because according to the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates from 2017, Nigeria loses over 160,000 children under five years of age to diarrhoea every year.
The hands should be washed as often as possible with antibacterial soap and water, especially after toilet usage, before touching food, when returning home, and after contact with a sick person. This habit helps you stay healthy. But if you're still wondering how washing your hands could be regarded important for hygiene, here are the reasons.
1. Practicing proper hygiene and cleanliness. All the surfaces and objects we touch with our hands are covered with germs and bacteria. Washing our hands helps get rid of them.
2. Prevention of diarrhoea and other bacterial diseases. Among many diseases that can be contacted through dirty hands, diarrhoea is one of the most dangerous of them all. This disease which can be contacted through your hands can lead to death. Rotavirus is one of the deadliest diarrhoea disease-causing agents.
3. It promotes social etiquette and grooming Shaking hands with people is a big part of socializing and doing so with a dirty hand creates an awkward situation between the parties involved.
4. Protection against food poisoning. Handling food with dirty hands could contaminate the food and lead to food poisoning. This could create intestinal infection that might become deadly.
5. Saving the cost of going to the hospital. Washing your hands and those of your children and wards can save you the time, money and inconvenience of going to the hospital.
To ensure that proper hand washing habit is encouraged among Nigerians, Dettol has partnered with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to launch the ‘Clean Naija Program’. The aim of the initiative is to create awareness and educate the public on the importance of handwashing in order to achieve a cleaner and healthier Nigeria. The MOU signing for this initiative held on Thursday, March 14, 2019 in Abuja.
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